I canceled a luxury cruise to afford World Cup final tickets

Soccer has been a lifelong passion for me, and after missing out in the lottery rounds I decided I wanted to be at the final no matter the cost. I bought a category 3 ticket for $10,925 to see the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in July, even though I think FIFA has gone way overboard with pricing.

I worked at Hewlett-Packard for years before being laid off last year and took a five-month job as a seasonal broadcast engineer at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. I used almost four months of that pay to buy the ticket. I’d already booked accommodation and flights in September, using air miles for flights from San Jose that cost $11, and I’m staying in a friend’s condo in New York for $175 a night because hotel prices were astronomical.

I’m turning 60 this year and scaled back my celebrations. A planned three-week trip around Europe with visits to Italy and Paris became a two-week trip to Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris.

United States, New York

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